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Ghani wins Afghan election: Preliminary results

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Last-minute talks delayed the results by nearly five hours on Monday, as the two campaigns tried to thrash out a deal over the fraud allegations that could yet derail Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power.

Former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani won Afghanistan's presidential election, according to preliminary results Monday, but fraud allegations are set to spark a dispute over the outcome and stoke concerns of instability. (AFP)

Ghani won 56.4 percent of the run-off vote to ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah's 43.5 percent -- a major comeback for Ghani after the first-round election in April when eight men stood to succeed President Hamid Karzai. (AP)

Officials said the turnout was more than eight million in the June 14 vote out of an estimated electorate of 13.5 million voters -- far higher than expected, and a figure likely to fuel weeks of arguments about fraud from both sides. (Getty Images)

The next president will lead Afghanistan at a pivotal time as US-led troops end their 13-year war against Taliban insurgents and the fragile economy struggles with declining international aid. (Getty Images)

"We can not deny fraud and violations in the process," Independent Election Commission (IEC) head Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani told reporters. "In some cases some security forces were involved, in other cases senior government officials like the governors or lower-level officials were involved." (Getty Images)

"The preliminary result in no way means the announcement of the winner of the election," he said. "After addressing all the complaints, the objections and the inspections, a change in the result is possible." (Getty Images)

Last-minute talks delayed the results by nearly five hours on Monday, as the two campaigns tried to thrash out a deal over the fraud allegations that could yet derail Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power. (Getty Images)